Chapter 1232 Suitable Location

After a match ended, the participants were given three hours before the battlefield forcibly removed them.

Michael had no intention of using that time.

The moment the notifications settled, he recalled Beginning and the rest of his undead.

After he was done, Michael selected the option to leave.

Light surrounded him. A moment later, he returned to the Fourth Layer.

His ranking had already changed.

Michael barely glanced at it before opening the leaderboard again. There was no reason to stop now.

He selected another name ten ranks above his own and immediately issued the next challenge.

While Michael continued climbing and making changes to the leaderboard, his repeated victories were already beginning to attract another wave of attention among the countless Awakeners scattered across the Origin Battlefield.

On the other hand, far away in the Land of Origin, another Michael sat inside a grand office.

He wore a dark ceremonial robe embroidered with subtle golden patterns, while his long black hair had been left loose. Sunlight entered through the tall open windows beside him, falling across the room and catching against the edges of his hair.

Before him rested an enormous map covering nearly the entire table.

Michael leaned over it silently, one hand resting against the wood while his eyes moved across the marked territories.

For several moments, he didn't speak. The scene was peaceful.

The reason Michael had returned to the Land of Origin wasn't only because he wanted to see Arianne again after being away for so long.

There was something else he had wanted to test for quite some time.

One of the functions connected to the Universal Cornerstone.

For a while now, Michael had carried several suspicions regarding what the cornerstone could really do and how deeply its influence extended beyond the Origin Battlefield. Unfortunately, there had never been a convenient opportunity to test those ideas properly.

Now there was. Since this body had already returned to the Land of Origin, he could test the cornerstone and spend some time with Arianne.

In fact, Arianne had been the first person Michael wanted to see after arriving.

Unfortunately, she wasn't currently inside the palace.

After a bit of investigation, he saw she had gone into the imperial city earlier this morning with several palace maids and guards, bringing food and supplies to children in poorer districts.

One of Michael's Rank Four undead accompanied her as always.

Since he felt there was no need to interrupt whatever she was doing simply because he had returned, he had the undead accompanying her inform her of his return.

It definitely wasn't because he was trying to prolong whatever misgivings she would have at him upon seeing him.

Michael smiled faintly at the thought before returning his attention to the map.

The enormous map spread across the table represented the imperial capital and the surrounding territories extending hundreds of kilometres outward.

Whether roads, villages, forests, rivers, mountains, military outposts, or resource zones, everything had been marked in considerable detail.

Michael's eyes moved slowly across it.

He needed somewhere suitable for the experiment. Preferably not too far from the capital.

If his suspicion was correct, whatever appeared might become extremely useful to the empire in the future. Keeping it close would make managing and protecting it much easier.

More importantly, since Michael wasn't certain whether whatever was created could be moved afterward, choosing carelessly could become a problem.

Just as Michael was considering whether the location beneath his finger was suitable, his perception caught something moving rapidly through the palace.

His eyes shifted toward the office doors.

The presence was familiar enough that the tension in his expression disappeared almost immediately.

Arianne.

She was already back.

Michael smiled.

Judging by how quickly she was moving through the corridors, the undead he had contacted must have delivered his message not long after he sent it.

Michael straightened slightly and waited.

The familiar presence approached the office, then suddenly stopped right outside the door.

"…?"

Michael tilted his head in confusion.

For some reason, Arianne seemed to be hesitating to enter his office.

What exactly is she doing? Did I do something wrong?

Wait, why am I immediately thinking I'm at fault?

Michael thought for a moment before looking toward the open space beside the desk.

A second later, a small rabbit taken from the Mausoleum appeared.

The animal landed lightly on the carpet and immediately looked around in confusion, its ears twitching.

Michael raised a hand.

"Sorry about this."

Snap. His fingers clicked.

[Swap]

The rabbit vanished.

At the exact same moment, something much heavier appeared in its place.

"Ah?!"

Arianne dropped directly out of empty space.

Michael's arms caught her, one beneath her back and the other around her waist, as her legs fell across his lap.

Outside the office, the unfortunate rabbit appeared where Arianne had been standing. It barely had time to understand what was happening before another small portal opened beneath it. The rabbit dropped straight through.

A second later, it was back inside the Mausoleum, landing harmlessly among the wilderness before immediately hopping away in fear.

Its brief service to the empire had ended.

Back inside the office, Michael looked down at Arianne still sitting across his arms and legs.

Michael's smile returned.

"Hi."

For a moment, Arianne's expression softened. The corners of her lips almost rose. Then, as though suddenly remembering something, she squeezed her face into what was probably supposed to be a serious expression and deliberately turned her head away from him.

"…?"

Her reaction caught him off guard.

He lifted one hand and gently tried to turn her face back toward him.

Arianne calmly pushed his hand aside.

"What happened?" Michael inquired but got no answer.

"Did something happen while I was gone?"

Silence.

"Did someone bother you?"

She still didn't say anything.

Michael's confusion gradually deepened.

"Arianne?"

She continued looking away.

Michael hesitated before finally asking the question that had first crossed his mind outside the door.

"Did I do something wrong?"

Arianne immediately turned toward him. Her green eyes locked onto his.

The serious expression on her face would have been far more intimidating if Michael hadn't noticed how much effort she seemed to be putting into maintaining it.

"Do you think disappearing for almost an entire week is something your partner is supposed to be fine with?"